Narrowing safety-stop for full-fashioned knitting-machines



M. ZWICKY.

NARROWING SAFEIY STOP FOR FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20, 1920.

1,381,444.. PatentedJunel l, 1921.

UNH'ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELCHIOR ZWICKY, OF WYOMISSING, PENNSYLVANIA. ASSIGNOR TO TEXTILE MACHINE WORKS, OF WYOMISSING, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

NARROWING SAFETY-STOP FOR FULL-FASHIONED KNITTING -IVIACHINEEi.

1,381,4idd.

Application filed September 20, 1920.

To (a l ii /mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, MELCHIOR ZWICKY, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVyomissing, in the county of Berks and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Narrowing Safety-Stops for Full-Fashioned Knitting-lilachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the narrowing mechanism of full-fashioned knitting machines; and it consists in providing in connection with usual pattern-controlled means for effecting the changes from knitting to narrowin operations, independent means for insuring desired continuance of the knitting operation against accidental changing such as is ordinarily liable to occur, as fully described in connection with the accompanying drawing and specifically pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a partial front view of a full,

fashioned knitting machine having my in vention applied thereto in preferred manner, directly coijperating parts only ofthe' ordinary machine construction being indicated; and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view.

The narrowing nuts a and 7), upon the reversely threaded narrowing screw 0, are operated as usual in full fashioned knitting machines, to shift the narrowing points sidewise preliminary to transferring the loops; and the cam shaft d is provided with the usual shifting cams c 6, between which the roller 7 of the pivoted shifting lever g is swung to effect the lateral shifting of the cam shaft required for alternating the narrowing and knitting operations. The shifting lever g, as shown in the well known construction indicated, is normally pressed by a spring 71 so as to bring its roller f into operative contact with a shifting cam 6, but is locked against such movement by a locking device Z: in "engagement with a lever arm excepting when said device is released as determined by the usual pattern chain; the lever 9 being returned to its locked position by the cam c after the narrowing operation is completed.

In the common construction thus briefly described, the pattern-controlled locking device k is reliedupon to at all times maintain the shifting lever in inoperative position dur- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 141, 1921.

Serial No. 411,362.

ing the ordinary knitting called for. A necessary incident of its required periodic operation howeveix is that it is liable to be ac cidentally released and thereby cause an unintended shifting to narrowing with damaging effects; and the purpose of my invention hereinafter described is to provide means for insuring against such harmful interruption of the intended regular knitting.

To this end I employ a special safet stop mechanism adapted to retain the shifting le ver 9 1n inoperative position, independently of the pattern-controlled locking device Z, during regular knitting. As shown this special safety stop-consists of a lever 10 pivoted intermediately to the frame of the machine at 11, and having the locking end 12 adapted to engage the shifting-cam roller f so as to prevent lateral movement of the latter; this locking end 12 being normally held in disengaged position however by the weighted opposite end 18 thereof, and being positively depressed into engagement when desired as follows:

Slidably mounted on the machine frame below the narrowing nuts is a stopoperating rod 15 provided with an adjustably fixed contact arm 16 extending into the path of the movable nuts and normally retracted against the nut a by a spring 17. The extended end 18 of this rod 15 is arranged to positively depress the locking end 12 of le ver 10 into engagement with the shifting cam roller 7 when the narrowing nut a reachesthe determined position indicated in Fig. 1; this being effected as shown by the cam-head end 18 of the rod 15 engaging the short end 20 of an interposed lever 21 carrying at its opposite end a connecting rod 22 pivotally connected to the safety-stop lever 10.

In operation, the shifting of the cam shaft (Z to effect desired movements of the narrowing nuts a. Z). is effected as usual byantomatically releasing the locking device it as determined by the pattern chain, the safetystop 12 being held in inoperative position; but when this shifting is to be discontinued for uninterrupted regular knitting, the narrowing nut a will have moved the stopoperating rod 15 so as to throw the safety stop 12 into action as indicated in Fig. 2; so that thereafter no shift-ing of the cam shaft can be effected, even though the lQCk'.

ing device 71'; be accidentally thrown out, so long as the safety stop 12 is thus positioned. When the narrowing nuts are moved as usual after finishing the regular knitting, the stop operating rod 15 and stop 12 are automatically Withdrawn and so remain until the latter is automatically thrown in again as described. The mechanism specifically set forth may be readily modified within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a full fashioned knitting machine having narrowing nuts, a laterally shiftable cam shaft, and a shifting lever normally movable into operative relation to said cam shaft; a pattern-released locking device for said lever and a supplemental automatically operated safety lock therefor.

2. In a full fashioned knitting machine having narrowing nuts, a laterally shift-able cam shaft, and a shifting lever normally movable into operative relation to said cam,

shaft; a pattern-released locking device for said lever and a supplemental safety lock therefor controlled 'by the narrowing-nut movement.

3. In a full fashioned knitting machine having narrowing nuts, a cam shaft with shifting cams fixed thereto, and a camroller shifting lever normally movable into operative relation to said shifting cams; a pattern-released locking device for said 10- ver, and a separate roller-engaging lo'cking lever with operating connections thereto comprising a contact arm arranged in the narrowing-nut path. I

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

MELCHIOR ZWICKY. 

